Rotary polishing device



Feb. 15, 1927.

` mill c. H. FENNELL l ROTARY POLISHING DEVICE Filed Sept. 22, 1924 Patented Feb. l5, 1927.

UNITED STATES .PATENT-OFFICE.

` CHARLES n. IENNEIQL, or

DETROIT, HICHIGASN, ASSIGNOR lF ONE-HALF T0 LLOYD L. ROSS, 0F DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

Romair ronsre nnvron. e

Appmaadn mea september as. 1924. serial No. vasen.

wherein it is very' desirable that the sur.

face of the coatings should be frictionally reduced to an even surface having a fine degree of smoothness and freedom from surface defects in order that a suitable and durable finish on such automobile bodies may 'be effectively built up and finally finished. The nature of this work usually demands hand treatment, whereby the paint coats are tediously rubbed down to secure the required F surface, the application of ordinary mee chanical means as often employed in the treatment of flat surfaces not beingalways feasible or fully effectual, due to the `curves x and uneven surfaces ypresented by an auto-l mobile body for such treatment.

It is, therefore, the object of this invention to' provide a device especially adapted to this work which may be utilized in the polishing, bufiing or rubbing'down of rimary, intermediate or final paint coats o' an automobile body, or in buffing or polishing rnetal bodies to take out scratches before painting, and by means of which the ltime and labor required to erform" such work 1s materially reduced an the quality and consistency of the work throughout a paint job is improved, so that a very fine rand even finish ma be obtained without the expenditure of tie same amount of ylabor as is required with the ordinary method of hand finishing. c

A further object is to provide for such purposes a rotary device having a hollow cup or bell shaped working part of heavy felt or similar material adapted to offer a resistance to expansion or distortion, or yieldingly reinforced to provide a resistance against the expanding or distorting of the said working part, whereby such part may be expanded by contact `with the work, but will tend to assume its normal shape thereby conforming with the contour of the work to which it is applied; a still further object being to provide, in. connection with a cup or bell shaped rotary. wheel of felt, or other suitable material or materials, an annular iexible sleeve embracing the outer surfaces of the said wheel and yieldingly .resisting the expanding of the Said wheel when applied to thework,

ein i i AStill `further objects subsidiary to or resultlng from the aforesaid objects, or from thesconstruction or operation of the inventlon asit may be carried into effect, will become `apparent as the said invention is hereinafter further disclosed. e

I n carrying the said invention into effect, I may mount upon the outer end of the rotating part of a flexible shaft, the stationary part of which is rovided with a suitable ,grip o r handle, a piece of felt, fiber or s1m1la`r fiexlble material of bell or flared shape, the mouth of which extends forwardly and outwardly from the end of the said rotary shaft, and the center of which is secured thereto by suitable clamping means, together with a resilient member such as a collar or sleeve provided with .spring fingers and secured around the inner end of the said wheel with the said fingers pressing against the outer surface of thei said wheel and extendingl forwardly towards the rim thereof, whereby such fingers tend to contract on the said bell and yieldingly resist the outward movement or expansion of the said bell mouth.

All of which is more particularly ydescribed and ascertained hereinafter, by way of example, having reference tothe accompanying drawing, whereinl Figure 1 is a vertical section of my improved polishing or buffing device attached to the end vof a exible shaft, part of which is shown;

hiure 2 is a perspective view of the polis mg device removed from the shaft; an

Figure 3 is a fragmentary detaii view illustrating the application of device in the treatment of the paint surface of an automobile body. A v Similar characters of reference indicate similar parts in the several figures of the drawing. l

To the end of the outer tube l of a dex-ibis shaft is secured a handle or grip 2 which. houses a socket 3 attached to the end or the rotary core 4 of the said shaft, this socket receiving the tapered stern 5 of an attachment 6. This attachment is provided, intermediate of its length, with an expanded fiange or abutment 7 and a forwardly projecting threaded member 18j upon which is mounted a clap-shaped member or housing 9 which is shouldered against the flange 7 andyis The flared mouth of the said wheel extends adapted to substantially beyond and diverges from the mouth of the housing, which housing forms a support for -thc central portion of the wheel, as will be seen from the drawing, so that a considerable portion of tlu` said bell shaped wheel protrudes from said member 9, the said wheel being retained in the member 9 by securing means such as a head 10 provided with an internally threaded nut 11 adapted to be tightened upon the threaded member 18 of the extension 6, whereby the inner partof the said wheel may be firmly clamped in position so that it may be revolved by the rotary action of the core for the flexible shaft.

It will be noted that the flared mouth of the wheel extends forwardly of the securing means 10 and 11, so that such means may be said to be recessed into the wheel, the rim thereby effectively preventing contact. of the said securing meanswith work to which the wheel may be applied.

As a reinforcement to the natural resiliency of the bell shaped wheel I may provide a collar 12 surrounding and secured to the outer face of the cup ed member 9 and is provided with flexible ngers 13 arranged in spread relation against the outer surface of the'flared portion of the bell shaped wheel extending from the said cupped member, whereby such fingers yieldingly resist the Jutward movement or expanding of the said flared portion of the wheel 8 so that such portion may be expandedby pressure internally or on the edges thereof either throughout its entire periphery or locally at o ne or more points in theperiphery thereof, but will be returned to its normal shape by reason of the actuation of the fingers 13 upon the release of such expanding pressure. Therefore, if the mouth of the bell shaped wheel be pressed against an object, the rim of the said wheel will be distorted to accommodate itself to the intermediate contour of the article against which it is pressed, and if the wheel be rotated, the edges of the same willmove in a path conforming to such contour either as a. result of the resiliency ofu the wheel itself or the action of the resilient reinforcing fingers where such are provided.

In Figure 3 this feature is a tly illustrated by the showing of part o an automobile body 14 to which the device.; is applied, the distorting of the bell mouth of the Wheel to conform with the curvature of the said body, being shown.

The device is intended to be use-d after the application of a coat of aint to a structure such as the automobile Ibody'illustrated for the purpose of frictionall reducing the surface to the texture desired),I 0r it may be applied to the surface for the purpose of pre-v arin it for the reception of such a coat; or stil further, it may be applied to the finishing coat for the purpose of obtaining the required finish. In the latter case it is particularly of benefit in securing matte or semi-matte effects.'

It will be understood that such ap lication of the wheel is effected while it is eing rapidly rotated by the core of the flexible shaft, the mouth of the wheel being pressed against the surface of the work by means of the handle 2 and the wheel passed with a` reciprocating, oscillating or rotating motion over such surface} during which movement of the said wheel it changes its configuration as the contour of the work changes in different parts over which the wheel is moved; and it will be also understood that the abrasive action of the wheel ycan be increased or diminished by varying the pressure thereof on the work, which also increases the surface of Athe wheel broughtl to bear upon the said work, and the wheel may be manipulated so as to bring a greater pressure to bear upon any particular portion of the rim thereof-which may be desired for the purpose of causing the said rim to enter depressions in the work normally difficult of access or for other such reasons as may suggest themselves to the user.

It will be understood that the term bell shaped as used herein and in the claims and as applied to the wheel is simply used in a general sensev and is intended to convey the idea that the wheel is hollowr with the center depressed and the side walls thereof Vflared or diverging so that the inner edges of the said walls will be presented to the work. The said device is by no means limited to use on automobile bodiesf or painted work although it lends itself excellently to such use, but it will be appreciated that its field of,utility is extensive. For' instance, it may be used for the surfacing of putty coats on machine bases; also in the polishing of plate glass and marble, and for general smoothing, cleaning and polishing of surfaces.

This invention may be developed within the scope of he following claims without departing from ythe essential features of the inventionI`- Aand it is desired that the specification and drawing be read as merely illustrative and, not inwa limiting sense, exceptas necessitated by the prior art.

`1. In a surfacing device, a rotary member, a forwardly, and outwardly flared Wheel mounted on said member, and resilient means extending over -t-he outer surface 'of said wheel, said means yieldingly resisting the expandmg of saidjvheel when apphed `lo work and terminating substantially short oi' the periphery of said wheel.

2. In a surfacing device, a rotary member, a forwardly and outwardly flared wheel mounted on said member, and a plurality of exible fingers extending over and resiliently embracing the outer flared end of said wheel, said fingers terminating substantially short ot the periphery of said wheel.

il. In a surfacing device, a rotary member, and a resilient bell-shaped wheel mounted on said member, the mouth thereof extending substantially beyond 'the'end ot' said mem-v ber, yielding resisting means in the form of a collar carried by said member and having a plurality ot' spring fingers extending forwardly therefrom to points somewhat short of the periphery of said wheel, said lingers yieldingly resisting the {iexing ot' said wheel in use.

4. In a surfacing device, a rotary member, and a resilient bellshaped wheel mounted on said member, the mouth thereof extending substantially beyond the end of said mem.- ber, said rotary member being provided with -a support from which the ared part of the wheel extends outwardly and forwardly, and securing means housed Within' the/*depressed central `portion of said wheel whereby the forwardly projecting marginal portions of said wheel afford a protection for said means. 1 y

5. As a new article of manufacture, a hand polishing device for uneven surfaces, comprising a hand grip, rotary means extending therethrough, a forwardly and outwardly flared iiexible-conciwe wheel mounted ou the end ot' said rotary means, and resilient means yieldingly embracing said wheel, whereby the entire margin of said wheel maybe applied to an uneven surface at one time and conform to the shape thereof. l l v In testimony whereof I aliix my signature'.

CHARLES H. FENN ELL. 

